STAFF REPORT ACTION REQUIRED

One Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan

Date: March 3, 2011

To: and East York Community Council

From: Robert Freedman, Director, Urban Design

Wards: Ward 27 – Toronto Centre - Rosedale

Reference te11014 Number:

SUMMARY

The purpose of this staff report is to seek City Council approval of Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan. The plan has been prepared by the owner in compliance with the development approval provisions. The plan, which is included as Attachment 1 of this report, outlines the method by which the owner will commission public art in the publicly-accessible, privately-owned area of the development site.

The development building site is in a prominent area in located at the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor Street. This neighbourhood is an established commercial shopping area and it is also the interchange of the two subway lines at this busy urban intersection. To reinforce the equal importance of these streets the public art site will be located in the privately owned property but highly accessible and visible area. The proposed site will be along the east-west frontage of Bloor Street and the north-south frontage of further enhancing the public realm.

The One Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan provides a framework for a public art commission including the introduction and background; the site context and public art site; the artist selection method; the documentation, communications and public relations; the estimated art budget; and schedule. The attached plan meets the objectives of City Planning’s Percent for Public Art Guidelines and is supported by the Toronto Public Art Commission.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The City Planning Division recommends that:

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City Council approve the attached One Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan attached to the report dated March 3, 2011, from the Director, Urban Design.

FINANCIAL IMPACT There are no financial implications resulting from the adoption of this report.

DECISION HISTORY

City Council at its meeting on October 27, 2008 approved a mixed-use building with residential condominiums, offices and retail at grade. The owner has complied with the Section 37 agreement that includes a public art provision that is 1% of the gross construction costs be dedicated towards public art.

For on-site public art, the owner is required to produce a Public Art Plan for review by City Planning Staff and its advisory panel, the Toronto Public Art Commission. Initial meetings were held between the owner and City Planning Staff who met to discuss the public art process and to identify the site potentials. On January 19, 2011, the owner representatives made a preliminary presentation to the Toronto Public Art Commission, for initial comments and feedback. The owner returned to the February 22, 2011 meeting at which time Toronto Public Art Commission recommended approval of the One Bloor Street East Public Art Plan, subject to a resubmission addressing the documentation strategy. The attached plan was revised by the owner in accordance with that recommendation.

ISSUE BACKGROUND

The architectural treatment of the podium is significant and the artists will be working with the architect to insure that the integrity of the design is maintained. Given that there is limited space for free standing sculptures within the property line, the soffits and possibly a portion of the podium will be addressed by the public art. The owner has proposed an art selection method which includes a range of artists to be selected by a local jury that includes ward representation.

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The attached plan describes the distribution of a documentary film through various multimedia outlets including web and social media available to the general public and the condominium owners. This distribution strategy will be more fully developed with City Staff to ensure that the documentation will be readily accessible to the public at large.

COMMENTS

The One Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan is in compliance with the City’s objectives for the provision of public art in private development for this on-site program and is in accordance with the City Planning Percent for the Public Art Program, and is supported by the Toronto Public Art Commission. Upon City Council’s approval, the owner will commence work with the artist as scheduled in the attached plan.

We look forward to the results of the public art competition.

CONTACT Lara Tarlo Urban Designer Tel. No. 416 338-1132 Fax No. 416 392-1744 E-mail: [email protected]

SIGNATURE

______Robert Freedman Director, Urban Design City Planning Division

ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1: One Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan

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Attachment 1

One Bloor Street East - Public Art Plan

Prepared for: Great Gulf Homes By: Public Art Management Karen Mills, Justin Ridgeway, Ben Mills Date: For Presentation to TPAC February 22, 2011

1. INTRODUCTION

Architect’s Statement

Positioned at the south east corner of Yonge Street and Bloor Street, this notable site sits atop two converging subway lines and marks the eastern threshold into Canada’s premier shopping district, making it one of the most active and prominent intersections in the city of Toronto.

The northerly corners of the area were re-developed in the early 1970’s, but failed to celebrate the importance of this destination by locating the retail below grade; effectively turning their back to the street. Redeveloping this site with the goal of increasing density while contributing to the public realm with new connections to transit, street level retail and improved pedestrian thoroughfare is the source of both the constraints and opportunities which form the project.

The new building is the instrument which restores the urban experience of the street, while signifying the corner as a landmark location. The building is comprised of a street level podium with retail and commercial space, and a 65-storey residential tower with sculpted undulating balconies. Carving into the existing zoning envelope, the six-storey podium terraces away from the street as it stretches northward; dissolving the corner mass and preserving the existing street scale. This allows the tower to be present at the intersection without dominating the area and permits south light to penetrate to the street below.

The undulating curved balconies produce a façade that possesses duel qualities of playfulness and control, and dramatically contrasts the surrounding modernist high-rises to the north. The interior core maintains a more regular form to avoid compromising the suites, and serves as the backdrop from which the curving facade emerges from. The frit glass balconies pinwheel around the building; increasing in size for the preferential corner units, while capitalizing on view and light. The flowing lines of the facade will carry through to the sloped rooftop above, and stretch out into the podium below; marking key entryways into the building.”

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Project Team

The project team consists of the developer, Great Gulf Homes, the project architect (Hariri Pontarini Architects) and the public art managers, Public Art Management (Karen Mills, Justin Ridgeway, Ben Mills).

Public art zones run along Bloor and Yonge Streets.

2. PUBLIC ART

In accordance with the Section 37 agreement, the developer is proposing to commission public art for its site.

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This site with its extraordinary location coupled with an outstanding architectural form poses both opportunities and restrictions for public art. With the building occupying a significant footprint at grade, there is limited space for free standing interventions with only Yonge Street offering some opportunities within the set back.

The sculptural form of the building creates a bold statement. After discussions with City staff, the TPAC and the development team, we propose that the most publicly accessible and boldest interventions could be achieved at the ground level of the building in a number of locations addressing either or a combination of:

the soffits (and possibly a portion of the podium) along the Bloor and Yonge perimeters of the development through the integration of artwork in the public realm and entrance to the TTC along Yonge Street, or a combination of the two Note: the artwork will be installed within the property development line

These locations offer opportunities for an interesting and immediate engagement with the public- in discreet locations which will allow the works to read as “artwork”.

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Canopy extends along Bloor (with trees) and Yonge (no trees) Streets

3. SELECTION METHOD

An Invitation two stage competition is proposed for this project. The first stage shall comprise an invitation for Expressions of Interest from invited artists. This will be followed either by juried interviews or juried concept presentations.

The Jury:

The Jury will comprise 3 voting members of whom one will be a representative of the developer.

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At least one member of the Jury shall be an art expert resident of the ward.

One representative shall be an artist.

The two outside representatives on the Jury shall be drawn from the following pool of candidates:

Mark Robert, art collector, lives and works in the ward James Lahey, artist Geddy (Lee) Weinrib, musician and art collector, lives in the ward Joanne Tod, artist

In accordance with City of Toronto guidelines, the developer has the right to veto the Jury recommendation and re-run the competition.

The Owner will identify Finalists advancing in the competition based on the EOI responses.

The Artists:

Artists experienced in working on lighting projects of a major scale have been identified with candidates coming from Canada, the USA, Great Britain and Europe. The long list of candidates to be invited to submit an Expression of Interest are:

Jason Bruges Mader Stublic Weirmann Studio Leo Villareal Cerith Wyn Evans Arne Quinze Pipiliotti Rist Tara Donovan Jim Campbell Moment Factory* Urban Visuals* Bill Bell

*These groups will include qualified artists, and the public art installations will have permanence and a daytime presence.

4. DOCUMENTATION /COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC RELATIONS

Introducing a means where the public can learn more about public art is important, particularly in an area with such high profile as the One Bloor East. A documentary film shot in High Definition concerning the artwork (interview with artist, development team, public art personnel etc.) is proposed to provide a means of education and outreach to the community and visitors. The film will be made available online. As part of the budget for documentation, funds may be allocated to develop a dissemination strategy for the documentation. This may include content that can be provided to PDA / smartphones (such as an iPhone/Blackberry application) and the use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Public Art Management and The Owner’s websites). Links to the film may be incorporated into the city’s own website concerning the Percent for Art for Private

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Development Program. A link to enable a visitor to download the film to a laptop or smartphone will be included on the artwork plaque.

Subsequent to the Feb 22 presentation to TPAC and city staff, this plan commits to further develop a dissemination plan in collaboration with City staff to insure that the product is accessible to the public at large and to the new condominium owners.

5. BUDGET

Estimated 1% for Public Art Requirement $1.8 million (Total Project Density: 814,360 sf)

10% Administration Allowance As per the Section 37 Agreement, a 10% Administration Allowance has been allocated to bring to completion the phase consisting of artist selection. This process includes: artist research, preparation of competition materials (Invitation for Expression of Interest, Stage 2 Finalist Brief, jury briefing and contract), competition coordination and preparation of draft artist agreement.

15% Allowance for Consultant, Professional and Services Landscape Architect (coordination with base landscape) Architect (coordination with base building) Structural and Electrical consultants Site preparation and contractor mark ups Legal fees

5% Project Documentation and Documentary Allowance

5% Maintenance Endowment Allowance May be adjusted depending on the final artwork program. Usually a reserve of up to 10% of fabrication cost is set aside to ensure condo corporation has the funds to maintain the artwork. Must be used exclusively for art maintenance. This will be incorporated into the condo docs by the lawyer.

65% Artwork Allowance For design, supply, fabrication, delivery and installation of the public art.

6. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

TPAC Presentation: February 22, 2011 Competition Commences: After City Council approval Detailed Design Complete: Integration into Progress Drawings: Completion: Based on Market Conditions

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